


Bright as a Flame

by stickylips14



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, I just wanted to write something about them racing, along the rooftops of paris, and it turned into this, even tho its in third person it basically written exclusively from Chat's POV, so who knows what the girl is thinking cuz i sure dont lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 02:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5356949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stickylips14/pseuds/stickylips14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ladybug and Chat Noir find that their city doesn't need them, they play.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright as a Flame

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first bit of writing for the ML fandom and honestly it's so self-indulgent and written on the fly. I apologize, but I also hope you enjoy it because it was fun to write. Chat Noir is not the character I thought I'd find easiest to write but the world is full of surprises.  
> This is cross-posted on my tumblr, historicalmarinette.tumblr.com

Her footfalls were no heavier than an autumn leaf touching down on the pavement. Paris’ heroine flew across the skyline, bright as a flame against the night sky, absent of moonlight and the city below absent of threats. A shadow leapt after her, taking riskier leaps and landings, skidding down slanted roofs to leap from the gutters and howling with laughter when tiles slid out from under him unexpectedly.

When Ladybug and Chat Noir found that their city didn’t need them, they played. Without using their powers, their miraculous lasted longer and it seemed a waste to not let it run its course. Tonight’s game had started abruptly, with no bets or bargaining (Chat usually bet for a kiss, Ladybug bet for a week without him asking for one). Ladybug had stood proud on the ledge of a rooftop garden, arms crossed and hip cocked while Chat Noir took on a less serious attitude, lounging on the outdoor furniture when his partner had suddenly looked over her shoulder and called him to attention.  
“Kitty. You’re it.” He picked up the faint hiss of her yo-yo unfurling before she vanished off the ledge, stealing the lead. He was determined to regain ground.  
He hadn’t yet, ten minutes into the chase and he hadn’t so much as grazed her with the very tips of his claws. It was partially because he was trying to show off, and partially because she was showing off, pirouetting across the skyline and using chimneys as springboards for fancy flips and, just to taunt him, occasionally standing on her hands long enough for him to reach the same roof before she was off again.  
“Come on, kitty cat! You’re not even trying!” Was shouted into the wind and Chat decided that there was no point trying to show off to someone in front of him. His footing became more purposeful while she remained playful, and suddenly the gap was closing. His lips curled into that Cheshire grin of his as he used his baton to help him across an alleyway. They were coming to the end of the block, Ladybug was running out of time to leap to the other side of the road, and they were sharing rooftops by now. He called out to her as he landed on a ridge, crossing his arms over his chest because he had caught her, trying to slide down the slope of the roof. She puffed her cheeks out in a huff at him, shaking her head.  
“My lady, I believe I’ve won this round.” He purred as he sauntered down towards her, twirling his tail in one hand while the other began to reach for her.  
“Not yet, Chat!” Ladybug shot back, stepping back only to have her stupid cat try to lunge after her. She lost her footing in a flurry of bad luck that didn’t usually befall her, and in a blur she was tumbling head over heel off the roof—she heard Chat shout out to her, clumsily moving to catch her but just like he had the entire chase, he missed her. She landed on the awning with a burst of relief, even as she kept tumbling. She caught herself on the edge of it, dangling by one hand some ways above the ground. “Chat Noir!” She fumed, glancing down at herself knowing she wouldn’t find any injury, “You silly cat!”  
There was no real conviction in her scolding, Chat summarized, before following her to the edge of the awning and leaping down to the sidewalk. “Relax, my lady, like I would ever let any harm befall you.” He spoke with his usual finesse that made Ladybug roll her eyes before she let go of the awning, falling into his waiting arms, much to his delight. “Looks like I’ve finally caught you.”

“Ugh,” Ladybug rolled her eyes once again, truly surprised that her partner hadn’t yet managed to make her roll them right out of her skull. She pressed a red clad hand to his cheek to push him away, swinging out of his arms with ease and feigning to dust herself off. She straightened up, glancing over their surroundings. “Now it’s just a ground race.”  
They made for the park with less intention than earlier. Chat Noir was right on Ladybug’s tail from the get go and they danced around each other at the fountain, dipping their hands into the water in vain attempts to soak each other. The water beaded on their suits and rolled off again but they laughed anyway, and Ladybug nearly doubled over as she watched Chat wade through the fountain, imagining that if he had fur it would all be on end. He shook one leg as he stepped back up onto the marble and when he reached out for her she easily stepped away. He pouted, leaping down to swipe again for her arm which made her laugh and twirl away—God she looked pretty when she did that, with her hair fanning away from her face and her expression lit up bright as the stars. He pounced just as she tried to run, knocking her over to enjoy the perfect but fleeting image of her pinned under him, flushed and shocked before her knee dug into his side and the world spun around him so that he was staring up at her and the stars around her. “Bad kitt—ahh!” The tables turned again and Chat was determined to claim the victory. He dropped down lower over her, until their stomachs touched and he leaned his elbows on either side of her head, cradling his chin between the backs of his hands, grinning down at her all the while.  
“Again, my lady, I believe I’ve won.”  
“I guess you have. Now get up, you dork. It’s getting late.” She spoke with her usual degree of disdain, but her arms remained soft above her head. Chat could feel the raise and fall of her breathing against him, calm and measured. She was still warm after their rooftop antics, and until now he had never really realized how petite she was. Small and pretty and strong enough to break him in half if she chose to, which somehow only added to her charm. She frowned slightly as he carefully brought his clawed fingers down to brush her dark hair away from her face, turning his hand over to trace her hairline with the pad of his finger instead, wishing he could feel Ladybug’s skin against his own. “Kitty…”  
“I know, my lady, just… A moment longer.” Her frown deepened but something about her eyes was as soft as the rest of her and Chat Noir felt her sigh. “You know what the deal was if I ever cau--” Two red fingertips pressed hard enough against his lips to shush him and he figured that his time was up. No more playing. He tried to reside himself to his fate, biting back his longing and inevitable disappointment.  
“Chat Noir, I’m starting to think you really don’t kiss many girls.” She said in a voice entirely for him. Her fingers slid over his lips and up into his hair, high enough that she could stroke the leather of his cat ear with her thumb, “We prefer it when you don’t preface it by calling up a bet.”  
His head tilted with the movement of her hand and he had to bite back the urge to purr as her fingertips scratched over his scalp. Ladybug giggled. “Not to say you shouldn’t ask for permission, kitty cat, but permission isn’t always verbal…”  
He met her eye suddenly, searching for the tease, for the joke, and finding none. Her hand was still in his hair and the gentle pressure she was applying to bring him closer was unmissable.  
This was happening. Every thought in his head was evaporating the more space was diminishing between them, and by the time he was close enough to nudge their noses together it was all he could think about, the little skin-to-skin contact, the warmth of their twin blushes and the feeling of her smiling lips against his cheek as he nuzzled and drank in the scent of her skin and hair. Gardenia and sweat from running, sweet and earthy. His lips followed the gentle curve of her cheek to where it creased from her smile, slowly relaxing under his touch until her lips were perfectly kissable and just when Chat was sure this could not get any better he felt her head tilt, just a fraction, just enough for their lips to meet.  
Her lips were soft but not entirely yielding; as always they were a team, and neither one of them fought to dominate this cautious and fragile thing, the gentle strokes of their lips and the nervous breaths that fell between them. Ladybug’s hands cupped his cheeks and her fingers moved in gentle circles in front of his ears. Chat had carefully eased one hand under her head to hold her closer, nervous of his boundaries enough that he didn’t ran his hands over her sides to feel the gentle curve of her waist. When they slowly broke apart, Ladybug stole a second to place one small kiss to the cupid’s bow of his top lip, like a signature there, before she fell away from him, hands falling back into the grass they lay on.  
It had felt like an eternity had passed while they had laid under the stars, and perhaps it had been, because finally they heard the warning sound from their miraculous’-- they were running out of time for the night. 

Without needing to be asked, Chat Noir stood up, offering his hand to help Ladybug up. A second warning pierced the silence and she started to move away, halting only when she heard Chat’s inevitable protest. He knew she wouldn’t stay, but he was aching already from the space between them. “My lady--”  
She smiled softly over her shoulder, her yo-yo already in hand. There was still a glow in her cheeks that he wanted desperately to make worse, but she was resolute on her departure. “Get home safely, kitty cat.”  
He couldn’t get a reply out fast enough. She had given him one last glance that he would of thought was shy if he thought his lady ever felt such a thing, and then she had dashed off and swung her yo-yo towards the nearest purchase so that she could find her way home up in the air. She was a bright flame far off in the distance by the time Chat Noir could tear himself away from watching, his ring bearing only one paw. Regardless, he walked home that night.


End file.
